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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To expect him to board up this door?

51 replies

GraceMarks · 19/05/2019 20:30

I shall try to be concise here! I live in a flat which is part of a converted building. There is another flat next to me, and at one point they must have been adjoining, because there is a door in the party wall. On my side, the doorway has been boarded up and plastered over, but in the other flat, the door is still there. It opens onto a wall.

I feel a bit anxious about this, because there's a pretty high turnover of tenants in the other flat, and at some point early on in a new tenancy, I always hear them trying the door and tapping on the wall to see if they can get through! I think the partition is only plasterboard and it really wouldn't take much effort to break it down if someone was so inclined. It would come out directly into my bedroom - I live on my own and I honestly feel a bit unsafe.

On one occasion, the neighbours came and knocked on my front door and complained that they couldn't get into the "second bedroom" because the door was blocked. They were quite put out when I told them it was my bedroom and not included in their tenancy agreement...

The real problem is that the owner of this other flat has refused to board the door up because it would cost money and it isn't affecting him. The last time the flat was unoccupied, I asked him really nicely if he would consider it, but no luck. I think he thinks I'm being silly/paranoid, and maybe I am, but he's not a lone woman with friends who have actually suffered break-ins while they were at home.

Who's BU - me or the owner of the other flat?

OP posts:

RaptorWhiskers · 19/05/2019 22:24

Stick a wardrobe in front of it. Remove the plaster and brick it up. Or offer to pay for his side to be boarded up.

PickAChew · 19/05/2019 22:30

OP hasn't said what floor her flat is on. It sounds like it might be a stud wall, anyhow in which case, there is nothing to put the brick onto to brick it up!

Passthecherrycoke · 19/05/2019 22:32

I’m not saying it’s not possible, because all sorts take place in the building industry, but it would be fairly unusual to have 2 separate residences divided by a stud wall. And honestly if they were I’d also be prioritising getting a brick wall built instead. Most people wouldn’t buy a property like that if they had a choice so I think you’d sort of have to

Dippypippy1980 · 19/05/2019 22:38

I assume do it was brick wall until the door, then just stood to cover the doorway.

but none of know the actual set up unless OP clarifies.

She needs to get a build round and see what can be done. I would be very unhappy with this set up, if the whole wall is stud she needs to check fire regulations, and consider selling. Sounds awful

EngagedAgain · 19/05/2019 22:39

Surely you need to have it bricked up. I am not any expert though. Maybe Piglet John who is on here is very knowledgeable hopefully will come along. I wouldn't feel very comfortable about it either.

EngagedAgain · 19/05/2019 22:48

If you get the thread moved to property and DIY, Piglet John is more than likely to see it.

Notcontent · 19/05/2019 22:56

speak to an expert on this - a party wall surveyor (as someone else suggested) or an architect. I am sure you can get this sorted out.

MumUnderTheMoon · 19/05/2019 23:29

If it bothers you then offer to pay for it to be done.

fghkhfdryjkv · 20/05/2019 01:44

Why can't you remove the plaster and have it fixed up properly?

RebootYourEngine · 20/05/2019 04:30

I don't think I would like this either. If it was me I would put a heavy piece of furniture there or if I could afford it I would offer to pay for the door to be removed.

PeakedTooEarly · 20/05/2019 09:32

I wouldn't take what the fire inspector says too seriously. I used to work for a vet years ago who wanted to let the upstairs of the building as a flat. The fire inspector said the ceiling of the waiting room would have to come down and be replaced by a fire proof one giving minimum 30 minutes protection/egress time. The vet refused as the ceiling was a stunningly ornate Victorian original one. The building passed fire regs inspection that year and every year. Christ knows what would have happened in the even of a fire? Presumably the flat dwellers would have been fried to a crisp and the vet would have stood trial alongside the fire inspectors??

Passthecherrycoke · 20/05/2019 09:35

No peaked, you don’t need to take advice like that. The fire service put an order in place if it needs to be done and then the vet would be legally obliged to follow the order. My company have also had some weird advice like that from the odd visit that never comes up again

PeakedTooEarly · 20/05/2019 10:00

Is the door at least a fire door?

Sorry to bang on about fire regs but it gives me the heebies!

We are in the process of building a house and the fire regs for it are very stringent so I imagine they are much more so in a multi occupancy building. People get pissed, come home and put the chip pan on etc.
Growing up we had a chick incubator catch fire and I have been an avid collector of smoke alarms and CO alarms ever since, put it that way. Dad kicked it out of the door and cut an artery in his foot and that almost doused the flames coming from the curtains! Happy times!

Passthecherrycoke · 20/05/2019 10:05

There is no way it’s a fire door. It’s an old door from pre conversion?

I have to say OP I’m not even sure why you’d have a fire inspection. It’s 2 privately owned residences. Why would therefore brigade come round?

LakieLady · 20/05/2019 10:21

I thought that conversions only needed to comply with the fire regs in place at the time of covnersion, and that they couldn't be applied retrospectively.

DP rented a flat that didn't have fire doors from the flats to the common stairwell. The FB said that it wouldn't be allowed now, but that as the house had been converted in the 1960s, there was nothing that could be done about it.

He did arrange to put some sort of marker on the address so they'd know to bring very long ladders in the event of a fire, so they could get us out (3rd floor flat) if there was a fire in the communal stair case, and gave us advice on what to do in the even of a fire outside the flat (stay in the bedroom and wedge the door closed with the mattress lol).

LakieLady · 20/05/2019 10:22

@Passthecherrycoke In a lot of areas, the FB will come and do fire safety inspections for free in any property, including owner-occupied.

Bluntness100 · 20/05/2019 10:24

I do have to say op it does sound like it bothers you but not enough to pay to have it fixed. Some of the suggestions on here are good, like bricking up your side. It doesn't need to be your neighbours responsibility, you do have the ability to solve it yourself.

Passthecherrycoke · 20/05/2019 10:24

Yes they will of course come out if asked, and offer advice, but they can’t force compliance in a private residence for regulations in place in other types of property?
Ie as a poster above said if my loft extension was down before fire doors became regulation the fire service Can’t Make me change all the doors

boobirdblue · 20/05/2019 10:50

Sadly you can't make them do anything, but you need to take action to ensure you're happy. So as others have said, wardrobe or remove plasterboard and brick up.

PeakedTooEarly · 20/05/2019 11:33

Just because you don't have to put in fire proof doors doesn't mean you shouldn't.

PeakedTooEarly · 20/05/2019 11:34

Having said that the plasterboard is pretty fireproof.

Original poster

GraceMarks · 20/05/2019 11:34

OK, I accept that I am very stupid to have bought a flat with this feature. It was 12 years ago, I wasn't very savvy, and I was completely unaware of this issue until I'd already been there some time. It didn't come up in the survey.

Bluntness yes, it bothers me, wouldn't it bother you? I will look into the costs involved but as the wall itself isn't brick, I don't see how I can brick it up, especially as any such project would have to be done from his side of the wall, not mine. It isn't a case of "don't want to pay" so much as "probably can't afford to pay".

The other owner lets his flat out, hence why they have fire inspections, but as I said, they only do the communal areas usually. I will look into all the options people have suggested, and thank you to everyone who has helped.

OP posts:

Passthecherrycoke · 20/05/2019 13:03

A fire door is likely to be as/ more expensive than bricking it up, that’s the only real point I was concentrating on them for.

Passthecherrycoke · 20/05/2019 13:04

Where do you live that an individual rental flat is inspected by the fire service? I’ve never heard of that before, only for a HMO or a much larger block.

Thymeout · 20/05/2019 13:10

If it's a listed converted building, the chances are that the wall between the 2 flats is lath and plaster, not solid brick, especially if it's an upper floor. So 'bricking it up' would be a problem. There may be reasons why the door has been left on one side, relating to listed building regs. There wouldn't originally have been 2 doors, with 6 inches of nothing between them.

The door could be permanently disabled with a lock and key. Would the other owner agree to this? It wouldn't improve fire safety or noise, because you'd still have the same situation as now - a door and a stud wall. If anything, you probably hear less noise where the door is than along the rest of the wall.

But to be honest, Op, no, it wouldn't bother me because I can't imagine someone taking a sledgehammer to the party wall to get at me when it would be so much easier to break in via the front door or a window, if they were crazy enough to want to.

I do sympathise with your predicament, because it's difficult to shift something when it's stuck in your mind, especially when it seems to be related to safety - even when it logically isn't.

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